Pilot parachute



May 2, 1950 P. FRIEDER ET AL PILOT PARACHUTE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Filed Feb. 11. 1947 INVENTORS LEONARD P FRIED/5f? BY WALTER Elf-MIKE I W 6. MM

ATTORNEY ama May 2,1950 P. FRIEDER El AL 2,505,954

PILOT PARACHUTE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 11, 1947 EN TORS BY ML TEE 51 F7/v/rE/v A 7 '1 'OHZVE Y y 1950 1.. P. FRIEDER ET AL PILOT PARACHUTE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 11, 1947 INVENTORS LEON/1 RD P HH/EDEF? BY VV/IL 75R 53 fi/VKEN W 6. AYTOEZVEY M y 1950 P. FRIEDER E AL 2,505,954

PILOT PARACHUTE Filed Feb. 11, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 F IG. 8.

gmvrozas. LEONA P17 FT-WEDEI? BY WALTER S. Hum 5N W 8, AM

ATTORZVE'Y Patented May 2, 1950 TEE ATEN 9 F F 1 CE PILOT PARACHUTE Corporation Application February 11, 1947, Serial No. 727,788

1 Claim. i

This invention relates to parachutes in general, including master and pilot parachutes, and is described and illustrated as applied to pilot parachutes employed for withdrawing main parachutes from their packs in aircraft in flight.

Usually the main and pilot parachutes are folded in a pack closed by flaps which can be opened by the pilot pulling a rip cord. The parachutes are so packed that when the flaps are opened the pilot parachute is released first and acts to draw the main parachute from the pack.

An object of this invention is to provide a simple and very effective means for insuring instantaneous opening of a parachute, when it is released.

The opening means comprises one or more rings of resilient material, such as spring steel, rattan or the like, incorporated in the rim of the canopy of the pilot. If more than one ring is used they are preferably twisted together. The spring rings, canopy, and shroud lines of the pilot are folded into a very small pack or bundle which is placed under the flaps of the main parachute pack, the pilot shroud lines being connected to some part, preferably the rim, of the main parachute canopy.

Opening of the pack flaps by the rip cord releases the resilient ring from restraint and it instantaneously assumes its unfolded form with the result that the pilot parachute jumps into the air stream before the drag of the main parachute is imposed upon it.

Further and other objects and advantages will be apparent from the specification and claim, and from the accompanying drawings which illustrate what is now considered the preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows the pilot parachute inflated, the canopy rim being partially broken away to show the resilient rin in the hem of the rim;

Fig. 2 is a detail cross-section through the rim, in order to show more than one resilient ring in the hem;

Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 3 show successive steps in the folding of the pilot parachute preparatory to placing it in the pack with the main parachute;

Figs. 3A, 4A, 5A, 6A, 7A and 8A show the resilient rin alone in the forms it assumes in Figs. 3-8 respectively;

Fig. 9 shows the folded pilot parachute in the hands of the operator ready to be placed in the pack with the main parachute.

In the drawings 20 is the canopy of the pilot parachute, 22 are the shroud lines attached to cord 24 through eyes 26 in the hem 28 which forms the rim of the canopy. 30 is the resilient ring in hem 28. It may be of twisted strands as (Cl. 244--1d5) 2 in Fig. 2, or a single strand as in the other figures.

The shroud lines 2'2 all lead to, and through mousin 32. When the main and pilot parachute are packed a line 33 (Fig. 1) leads from a point of attachment on the main canopy to connect with shroud lines 22 below the mousing.

In view of the clarity of the drawings no further verbal description is believed necessary for an understanding of the invention. When the stage shown in Fig. 9 is reached all that remains is to attach line 33 to the main chute as described above, and then lay the pilot chute, folded as in Fig. 9, in the pack with the main chute and close the flaps of the pack. The folds of canopy 20 will then be crowded up within the folded rim -38 and the whole pilot assembly will then be in pancake form, restrained only by the pack flaps and ready to spring into the air stream when the flaps are opened.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiment herein illustrated and described but may be used in other ways without departure from its spirit as defined by the following claim.

What is claimed is:

A parachute comprising a hemispherical canopy composed of flexible fabric material and having a hem edge which is adapted to assume a smooth, continuous, curved shape upon inflation of the canopy, an endless, spring ring of stiff, resilient, solid material, extending around and secured along said hem edge, the diameter of said ring being substantially the same as the diameter of the canopy opening at its hem edge when the canopy is inflated and the circumference of said ring bein substantially the same as the circumferential length of the said fabric at said hem edge, said resilient material being such as to permit bending the ring to form a plurality of superposed coils without permanent deformation of the ring, said parachute being arranged in packed relation with said ring bent into said plurality of coils and restrained in said bent condition, and said ring being biased, by the resilience of its said material, to spring out to its original diameter and thereby to open the canopy, when restraint on the coils is removed.

LEONARD P. FRIEDER. WALTER S. FINKEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,341,794 El Vean June 1, 1920 1,626,563 Simon Apr. 26, 1927 1,890,868 Simpson Dec. 13. 1932 

